Igor, the Chinese Crested

Here's another dog I met at the Arabian Horse Show in Menton - and an unusual one.

This dapper little Chinese Crested is called Igor. He's two years and four months and he lives in Belgium.

This breed, being nearly hairless, has to have sunscreen put on the skin in hot weather - just like us! You can read more about Chinese Cresteds by clicking on the link.

He carries himself so beautifully, doesn't he? Looks like the tiniest shire horse with a blond mane.

Salukis at the Arabian Horse Show

Salukis go with Arabian horses - you often see them at the fabulous Arabian Horse Show in Menton and so it was the other day.

These have beautiful collars - see the tassels on the first and the purple and green woven collar on the second.

These two were tied up whilst their owners watched the competition. You can see more by clicking on Menton Daily Photo.

Fanny Update...two months on

It nearly two and a half month since Fanny was dumped, tied up outside my gate. (click to see how she was then)

Since then she's had an ultrasound to see if she had Cushing's Disease - really awful skin, which she had, is a symptom. The result was negative although she does have a very bad heart - on a scale of 4 being bad, the vet said she is 3. She's on antibiotics, two lots of heart pills, something for her crazy stomach that sounds as if it's in the middle of a rough ocean, special baths every five days and cortisone twice a week to help stop the scratching. The vet wasn't sure she could sterilize her because she didn't know if her heart would take the anaesthetic.

Then she came into season and it went on for over a month. The vet said she'd have to sterilize her as otherwise she'd get pyrometra (pus in the womb) but that she'd use the safest anaesthetic she had. And so Fanny was sterilized, had her teeth cleaned at the same time and is now fully recovered.

She has no upper front teeth between the canines - the vet thinks she probably never did. She looks, in profile as if she has an overshot bite but in fact she is vastly undershot, so there is some deformity there. I've not mentioned it to her, of course...

She's put on half a kilo but to do so eats enough to feed a small labrador. She doesn't seem to get the goodness from food and needs more than a dog her size should.

Amazingly she is growing coat where she has the elephant-like skin on her face and under her chin - not around her rear end but then we don't have to look at that too often.

She's very needy - stuck to me like glue. She isn't crazy about the dogs who come to stay but is having to learn dogs share attention in this house but she's now got used to Beau and Mia - she really didn't like Mia at the beginning.

And she barks... so we are working on that. Barking dogs and me - we don't get along.

And she has a godmother in Monaco - a good friend of mine who has undertaken to pay her vet bills for life - and they've been considerable. Isn't that incredible. Thank you to my dear friend, Sue.

Fanny always has the saddest look in her eyes but now she plays with a toy - brings it to me to throw and and I don't think she'd play if she wasn't happy - or at least as happy as she can be. I often wonder about her life before and why those eyes look so sad...

Kisha

Meet Kisha. She lives in Mandelieu, which is along the coast a bit. Kisha is 7 years old and looks a bit like a Briard gone wrong, but in fact she is registered as a Griffon x. Her coat doesn't look like a Griffon to me.

She's a beautiful dog, so gentle, so polite. Very shy yet wags her tail enthusiastically when you talk to her. I've a very soft spot for Kisha.

The Lacemaker's Dog

This lovely old Peke was sitting near his owner in Menton. She's an English lady who is part of a group demonstrating old crafts - her speciality being lace making. They live in Nice.

Baci, the Jet-Set Dog

Baci is tiny, adorable and 13 years old - his name means 'kisses' in Italian. He's also a jet-set dog who flies regularly between his homes in California and La Turbie, a beautiful medieval village above Monaco.